A/N I hope you enjoy this new story. If you do, please leave a review.

According to history books, the day the world changed was when the sun exploded. It was just one day. One day like any other day, except something extraordinary happened. Something that no one thought they would ever see. At least, not for a few billion years. The sun had exploded.

The once bright-yellow sun, shining high in the sky, given the planet warmth and light had exploded. As the sun exploded, it shook the very Earth. People were scared and panicking. They feared for their lives, but once they calmed down, and looked up, they saw it. They saw a new red sun. Everyone was stunned and amazed. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. Their eyes were glued to the sun. Scientists all over the world immediately started to study it. They took thousands of notes and recordings, detailing everything. The scientists wanted to know everything they could and moved with haste. Even the people were interested in their new sun. For a while, it seemed magnificent. Then, it started to happen. People started to realize what their new red sun was doing to the environment.

It seemed the radiation from the new red sun was different from the previous yellow sun. As time went on, radiation from the red sun started to mutate the plant lives. It started small at first. The grasses and weeds sprouted uncontrollably. Leaves would take over whole trees, covering them entirely. No one could understand what was going on. In only a few months, vines became as hard as steel. Seaweeds started snapping at any passing swimmers and fishes. Tree barks could regenerate at unbelievable speeds. The new plants grabbed the attention of all scientists. They studied the plants in an attempt to understand what was going on. However, since the scientists became too busy studying the plants, they didn't notice what was about to happen next.

The radiation had gotten into the food cycle, and the animals and bugs that ate the mutated plants began to mutate themselves. Mice and rats reproduced at accelerated rates with hundreds in only a few minutes. Ants and cockroaches could now work together to form solid shapes such as limbs strong enough to break through brick walls. Even the simple flies had mutated. Now, flies could hold electric charges. They would use these charges to burn through fly swatters. What few of the mice, ants, and flies that were slow to mutate were quickly eaten by other animals, and it wasn't long before the whole animal became mutated.

The mutated animals became stronger. They became smarter too. They became aggressive and before anyone could do anything, the animals started attacking people, and then, whole cities. They lay waste to anyone and anything they see. No armies could defeat or even defend against them, and very soon, the animals had taken over the world. They forced what was left of the human race into hiding.

The survivors at the time hid wherever they could. They hid in destroyed buildings and abandoned cars. They hid underground in caves and sewers. They hid wherever there were as little animals or insects as possible. At this time, it seemed like the end of everything. It seemed like the end of the human race. The animals were too strong and there was nothing the people could do. After 30 years of hiding, and on the verge of extinction, one man finally learned how to turn the table.

From the few stories in the history books, a lone survivor, known only as "Monty", was living in a small cave hidden high in the mountain. Every day, Monty would go outside and look up at the sun. He would think of the once-yellow sun and curse the new red sun. It was because of this that he discovered something important. While walking around the mountain, hiding for food, Monty was attacked by the animals. He tried to outrun them but couldn't. They had tracked him down and forced him onto a cliff. Trapped between a ledge and the animals, it was there that Monty discovered his newfound "gifts". He discovered that the red sun had not only mutated the plants and animals but also mutated him. Monty's gifts allowed him to see things like never before. He could see things all around him without having to turn his head. Harnessing his gift, he tricked the animals as they attacked him. Whether from the sides or from behind, Monty dodged their attacks and pushed them off the ledge, killing them. Upon his victory, Monty realized what he had to do now. He ran back to his cave, packed what few supplies he had left, and started his journey all across the world.

Monty walked and walked for months. He traveled around the ruins of the world fearlessly, looking for people and gathering any allies he could. In his travels, Monty told others what had happened to him. He told them about his gift and how he planned to use it to defeat the animals, but first, that he would need help from others. During this, Monty learned that not everyone had mutated. On average, only one out of roughly 50 people had mutated and received gifts. Nevertheless, Monty managed to build himself an army, an army of people with gifts. He leads that army in a fight to reclaim the world from the animals. The animals didn't back down however and for over 10 years, there was a non-stop war between man and animals. Finally, though, mankind had won, and a new era of peace and prosperity began.

With the red sun shining brightly and the discoveries of gifts, it didn't take long for mankind to rebuild everything. Slowly but steadily, cities were built again. As new cities were built, it led to a massive advancement in technology. Very soon, whole cities became entirely solar-powered. Buildings became stronger and bigger than ever before. Such things as flying cars and even flying trains were no longer fictional. Everything had solar panels on them. The need for gas and coals vanish without a trace. The air became much cleaner, and even the people seemed healthier. They stopped eating meat and would go outside more often to bake in the red sun's light. It seems like everything was better and mankind was at its peak. However, despite all of this, there were still attacks from vicious animals.

The mutated animals still hadn't given up. They would attack cities, trying their hardest to break down the walls and destroy countless buildings in the hope of reclaiming the land. People with gifts would hold them off but every now and then, another city would fall. Monty, who was an old man by now but still the hero of this new world, knew that his work wasn't done yet. He spent the last remainder of his life building a special academy.

In this academy, he, along with his dearest and most trusted friends, taught people not only how to use their gifts better but also how to combat the animals. Monty developed classes and courses in the hope that he could train what he called fighters, people with gifts, to protect and defend the world from the mutated animals. He made sure that they were all properly taught and trained before being given jobs and missions that would force his fighters to journey into the Wild. As Monty started his academy, many cities and countries followed in his footsteps and started their own academies, but none were ever as recognized as Monty's academy. With his last breath, Monty named his fighter academy after the old sun. He named his academy, Yellow Sun Academy, and for over 100 years, Yellow Sun Academy stood strong, training the best fighters in the world.

2: Chapter 2: Borebacks Fight

Hothead:

"Watch out," Jump yells. Turning and looking behind me, I see a black and brown boreback charging toward me. As it charges, it leaps into the air and starts to spin. Spinning faster and faster, it turns into a blur before shooting toward me.

"Oh crud," I say, lowering my sword and holding the blade with my hand. The boreback hits my sword and pushes me back. Despite my best efforts, the boreback knocks me to the ground. Screaming as my back hits the dirt, I look up to see the boreback snarling as it lands back on the ground. It splits before charging at me. Jumping and about to hits me with its sharpened tusk, a pair of metal hands shoot out from the side and grab them.

"Thanks," I say, shooting Shocker a nod as he pushes the boreback away from me. Shocker nods back at me before rising his hand and slamming it down on the boreback's head. The beast snarls one last time before it dies.

Hearing something coming from above me, I look up and see Jump falling down from the leaves. She lands right between Shocker and me and raises her wrist-mounted crossbow.

"Thank you too," I say. "Even though I did get hit."

"Don't mention it," Jump replies with a smile. "By the way, we're not done yet. There's more!"

Jump nods her head and Shocker and I turn to see more borebacks coming out from behind the trees.

"Ha," I say, preparing myself. I lower and hold my sword between us and all the borebacks. "I had tougher fights when I was just a novice."

"In that case," Jump says, stepping forth. "Let's make this fast. Class is about to start and the headmaster won't be happy if we're late again. He already hates us."

Shocker hits my arms and nods his head.

"Charge," I yell, pulling back my sword as my friends and I run forward. The borebacks snarl as they charge toward the three of us. The three of us running our own way, I find myself surrounded from all sides by borebacks.

Once more, they snarl as they jump and spin. Shooting toward me, I jump out of the way of the first boreback before swinging my sword and destroying the second. It collapses onto the ground. The other borebacks all see this and turn to face me. Their eyes turn even redder and they all jump and spin. Only seconds from shooting toward me, I focus on my gift. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. As I do, bright red flames form on the blade of my sword. Opening my eyes, I see a massive fire on my sword. Just as the borebacks shoot toward me, I raise my sword and scream as I stab the ground beneath me.

A fiery eruption heats up and knocks all the boreback back. They're leaving behind a trail of faded white smoke as they disappear, only a few hitting the trees and falling to the ground.

"Whoo," I yell, holding up my sword. "Yeah! That's what I'm talking about! Yes! Nothing better than an early morning fight."

Shocker:

The borebacks squeak as I use my gift to electrify my metal arms. They fall one after the other as I hit and destroy them.

Holding a boreback by its tusks, I rise and throw it into the air. With the boreback's underbelly exposed, I pull back my fist and punch it in its weak spot. However, as I watch the boreback fly through the air, I hear something coming up from behind me. Turning around, I see another boreback running toward me. Before I could stop it, it rams into me, knocking and cutting my jacket.

Falling to the ground, the boreback lands on me and tries to cut me with its sharpened tusks. Before it can, I place both my hands on its head and use my gift to electrocute the boreback. It screams as it lights up the whole forest. After a minute or so, I throw the smoking boreback off of myself.

Jump:

Jumping and spinning in the air, I shoot out my hands and fire off multiple bolts. Crossbow bolts rain from above and hit a bunch of borebacks. While a few do run for cover, most of them are killed by the time I land on my feet.

One of the borebacks running out from behind a tree jumps and shoots toward me. Seeing it come closer and closer, I use my gift to jump high into the air. Practically flying over the boreback as it shoots past me, I shoot out my hand and line up the shot.

"Bang," I say, pulling the trigger and shooting a bolt. My bolt hits the spinning boreback, causing it to fall onto the ground. Landing on my feet, I smile when I see the other borebacks squeaking as they run away.

"That's strange," I say, reaching into my pocket to pull out a new box. I switch out the empty box in my crossbow with the new one. "Why are the borebacks running? Beasts don't normally run."

As I watch the last borebacks vanish from sight, I suddenly find myself in a large shadow. The shadow grows bigger and bigger and before I know it, the whole forest had gone dark.

"Oh no," I say, spinning around and shooting off as many bolts as I can.

Hothead:

"Hey Shocker," I say, smiling as I grab and pull him in for a hug. I pat his back before letting him go. Shocker nods his head at me before looking around. He turns back to me and shows me three fingers. He then lowers one of his fingers.

"Ohh," I say after a while. I slap myself on the head. "Jump! Yeah. Where is she? Hmm. I haven't seen her since we split up. Have you?"

Shocker shakes his head.

"Jump," I yell, "Hey, Jump! Where are you?"

About to take a step to try and find where Jump is, her scream stops me.

"What," I say. Before I could figure out what is going on, Shocker tackles me out of the way. Just as he tackled me, Jump come flying through the air. She lands a few feet from us, looking bruised.

"Jump," I yell, Shocker and I run to her. The first to reach her, Shocker drops to a knee and helps her up.

"Jump," I repeat, "Are you okay? What happened?"

Moaning at first, I noticed her wrist-mounted crossbows. They're both empty.

"Aracharles," Jump finally says. She points behind me and I see a giant black and white aracharles crawling toward it. The aracharles cutting the trees with its legs pulls back its head and splits a ball of acid webbing at us.

"Watch out," I scream. Running toward the aracharles, I use my gift once more to encase my sword in fire. Swinging it as fast as I can, I manage to burn the ball of webbing, but the burning webbing blocks my view. I didn't see the aracharles as it swings its leg. Too late to block it, the aracharles hits and knocks me into a tree. The breath is forced out of me as I hit the tree before falling onto the ground.

"Ouch," I cry. Shaking my head to get rid of the blurry vision, I see the aracharles approaching Shocker and Jump.

With Jump back on her feet, she and Shocker raise their weapons and prepare for a fight, but I know there's no way the two of them can fight an aracharles. Sucking up the pain, I push myself up.

"Ahh," I scream only for a few seconds before I see something shining in the trees. The thing, whatever it is, shoots out from the trees and hits the aracharles right in its ugly head. The aracharles scream and stumble, knocking over a bunch of trees as it swings its legs wildly around.

"Watch out," Jump says, pushing Shocker out of the way while using her gift to jump out of the way.

I watch from a distance as the aracharles pulls the thing from its head. The thing, turning out to be a small axe, drops to the ground.

"An axe," I think, "Who axe is that?"

"It's mine," a voice screams. Looking up, I see a man with black hair and a small pair of glasses in a long white cloak jumping out from the trees. Landing on the ground, he looks at the three of us. "Stay back! I can fight the aracharles!"

With that said, the man charges toward the aracharles. As the aracharles tries to hit the man with one of its legs, he drops to the ground and slides underneath it. Grabbing his axe, the man pulls out a sword before jumping into the air to attack the aracharles. I watch as the aracharles falls to the ground, defeated.

"Uhh. Thank you."

3: Chapter 3: A Special Kind of Offer

Jump:

"Come on," I scream, running as fast as I can. I only stop when I realize I'm alone. "Uh? Where are Hothead and Shocker?"

I turn around to see the two slowly following after me. Shocker doesn't look so bad but Hothead looks like he's about to faint.

"Come on," I scream again, running back and grabbing Hothead's arm. "Move faster. We're already 20 minutes late to class. Come on!"

Hothead pushes me away and bends over.

"Give me a second," he pants, stopping in mid-sentence. "Give me a second to catch my breath. I used a lot of fire during the fight with borebacks. Okay! And fire uses a lot of oxygen."

I roll my eyes and shake my head.

"Come on," I say, dragging Hothead through the busy city street. I drag and drag him all the way until we reach the front of the local fighter academy. Once there, I let go and peek around the corner and through the gate. Thankfully, I don't see teachers or students anywhere. The academy's courtyard is empty.

"Okay," I whisper, looking back at Hothead and Shocker. "There's a chance. There's a small chance we can sneak in without the Headmaster noticing us."

Shocker shakes his hand in front of us, grabbing our attention.

"What," I ask.

Shocker then shakes his head and points past us.

"Oh no," I think, turning around to see the Headmaster standing in front of us.

"My office," he says, "Now."

Hothead:

"We are in so much trouble," Jump yells, rubbing her hands through her hair. "Oh my god! Oh my god! We are in so much trouble! I can't believe we were so late!"

As Jump rants nervously while Shocker just sits there, I look around the detention room. It's a small room with only a table and a light hovering above it. Normally, there would be two chairs, one for the student in trouble and for the Headmaster. However, this time, since there are three of us, there are four chairs.

"What's going to happen," Jump says, slamming her forehead into her hand. "What's going to happen to me? To you? And you, Shocker?

"Calm down," I say, patting Jump on her back.

She turns toward me and slaps my hand away.

"How can you be so calm," she says. "You heard Headmaster Strictcon. This is the last time! The last time! We're going to be expelled. My parents are going to kill me. Worst, they're going to make it so I never see you or Shocker again. This is horrible."

"It's not that bad," I say. "I mean, you heard that fighter that saved us. We could've been in a worse situation."

Jump shakes her head.

"I think he was referring to the fight against the aracharles," Jump says. "You know, the one that almost ate us. Not this. Honestly, I'd rather be fighting that than be here!"

About to say something, the door slams open and Headmaster Strictcon enters. A stern and tall man with a permanent frown on his face, Headmaster Strictcon crosses his arms the second he sees the three of us.

"You three again," he says. He grumbles as he pulls out a small white and silver cylinder from his back pocket. Pushing a button, his holo-display comes on and a see-through green screen shoots out from the cylinder.

"Sulien Bokamoso," he starts, pulling up my files. "Corentin Keanu. Eimear Avita."

"Actually," I say while raising my hand. "We prefer to go by-"

"Silent," Headmaster Strictcon yells, shutting me up. With a swipe of his fingers, he shows us our files as they hover in mid-air. "Do you have any idea how many times the three of you have been late to the academy this year?"

I raise my hand.

"Uhh, do you actually want us to answer or not?"

The Headmaster doesn't answer me. Instead, he just stares at me with his signature frown. A few minutes later, he looks down and swipes his finger. Our files disappear back into his holo-display.

"I told you the last time what would happen if you three were late again," the Headmaster says, "I told you that I would have no other choice but to expel you. Well, now it's out of my hand."

"What," Jump and I say. The three of us then look at each other.

"Sir," Jump says, "What do you mean it's out of your hands?"

"I mean since you left the city and enter the Wild without a proper permit or even a trained fighter," the Headmaster says, "The three of you are in trouble with the city."

I can't be sure but I think my mouth is open. I only assume this because Jump's mouth slowly opens as well.

"The City of Norwood is pressing charges against the three of you for unlawfully leaving and recklessly endangerment," Headmaster says, "When you left the city's wall, you put the whole city and everyone inside in danger. The authority will be here shortly to asset the situation. Needless to say, the three of you are expelled from Norwood's Fighter Academy. I have already told your parents."

"Oh no," Jump says, lowering her head. "Oh no. Oh no! I can't believe it."

"Headmaster Strictcon," I say, standing up, "Please. Reconsider. I know we haven't exactly been the best students, but, but--"

I look at Shocker and Jump.

"They're my friends," I tell myself, "I have to do this."

"But please, spare them! Corentin and Eimear are innocent. This is all my fault. I was the one that lead them into the Wild! I will take full responsibility for everything, but please, don't expel them."

Headmaster Strictcon doesn't move a muscle. He stays crossed arms and stern eyes. It's only when the door opens that he bothers to move.

"Hello," Headmaster Strictcon says. He turns and prepares to shake hands but stops. "Wait, who are you? You're not an officer."

"I'm not," a familiar man says. It takes me less than a second to realize it was the man that saved us from aracharles. Wearing the same cloak from before, I also see the same sword and axe from before. They, along with a bow and quiver filled with arrows all are on him. Stepping into the room, he nods his head and greets us.

"Hello," he says. He turns to Headmaster Strictcon and offers him his hand. "My name is Noah. I am Headmaster of Yellow Sun Academy."

As soon as Headmaster Strictcon hears those words, he freezes.

"Yellow Sun Academy," Headmaster Strictcon stutters. He quickly takes Headmaster Noah's hand and shakes it. "A pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise. Are these the students? The one that went into the Wild?"

"You mean the ones that have violated the rules and threatened all of Norwood," Headmaster Stricton asks. "Yes. Yes, they are."

Strangely, Headmaster Noah then starts to stare at us intensely. Feeling a bit uncomfortable, I step back.

"Uhh," Headmaster Strictcon says. Noah turns to face him. "If I may ask, what brings you to my academy?"

"That is an easy question," Headmaster Noah answers. "I am here to offer something really special."

"What is that?"

"Scholarships to my academy, Yellow Sun Academy."

It seems Headmaster Strictcon chokes on Headmaster Noah's words. He had to hit his chest a few times before he can talk again.

"Scholarships to the best fighter academy in all of the world," Headmaster Stricton says, "That's very generous of you. No, that's beyond generous. Who are the lucky students? I shall go and get them immediately."

"No need. The three lucky students are already right in front of us."

Headmaster Noah then waves toward us.

"What," Headmaster Strictioncon asks.

"Uhh," Jump says.

"Excuse me," I interrupt.

"You heard me. Out of the hundreds and hundreds of student fighters in the world, I have chosen you three to be given full scholarships to Yellow Sun Academy. Do not worry. I have already discussed the matter with your parents. All of your parents, while they too seem surprised, were very excited at the notion."

"Wait, wait, wait," Jump says, shaking her hands. "You want us? The three of us? Are you sure?"

"Yes," Headmaster Strictcon says, "These are very bad students. They are constantly late for class, have poor scores and attitudes, and are barely above novice fighters. They do not belong in Yellow Sun Academy."

"With all due respect," Headmaster Noah says, "That is my choice to make. Not your. May I please see their files?"

Still confused, Headmaster Strictcon nods his head and pulls out his holo-display. He turns it on and with a swipe of his fingers, gives our files to Headmaster Noah. We all watch as Headmaster Noah quickly reads them over before looking back up.

"You are right," Headmaster Noah says, "Normally, with these scores, one would never have a choice to enter my academy."

Headmaster Strictcon nods his head.

"But," Headmaster Noah goes on, turning toward the three of us. "I believe this is a special circumstance."

"Special circumstance," I repeat. "What?"

He turns off his holo-display and puts it away.

"Headmaster Strictcon, I am sorry to have been eavesdropping but I overheard your talk with the three earlier. You expelled them, right? That's mean of the moment, they are not part of your academy."

Headmaster Strictcon once more nods his head.

"And because of their unlawful exit of the city, they are in trouble with the local authority."

"Uhh," I say, scratching the back of my head. "Yeah. About that--"

Headmaster Noah shoots out his hand like he did before and shuts me up.

"Again, do not worry. I have also already talked with Norwood's authority and told them my plan. They agreed to it."

"But wait," Jump says, "What is the plan exactly?"

Headmaster Noah lets out a small laugh before smiling.

"This is the plan," Headmaster Noah states. "From this point forward, you three will go home and pack up. Afterward, you will arrive at the hover station where you will be picked up by the hover traincraft and taken to Yellow Sun Academy. There, as transfer students, you will be trained to be fighters."

4: Chapter 4: Travel Companions

Hothead:

"Attention all passengers," the announcer says through the speakers above. "The hover traincraft to Yellow Sun Academy will be arriving shortly. Please remember to stand behind the barrier until the traincraft had come to a complete stop."

Looking at the blue barrier as it keeps everyone away from the tracks, I shake off the weariness in my arm. It's early in the morning and the hover traincraft station is crowded with a bunch of other students. Unlike me, they look happy and awake. Surprisingly, even Jump and Shocker look awake.

"Ahh," I cry, "I hope the traincraft gets here soon. My bags are getting heavy."

Besides the two large bags I'm carrying, I also have to shake the weariness off my back.

"I don't get it. Jump and I are both at least carrying a few months' worths of clothing. How come you only have a small bag on your back?"

Shocker replies with a shrug of his shoulders. He shows me the strap across his jacket and the small black bag on his back. It's not even half the size of the bags I'm holding.

"I still can't believe it," Jump says, pulling the car with all her luggage closer. "We're actually going to Yellow Sun Academy. I mean, this is for real. This isn't a dream. Even my parents couldn't believe it."

"Same here," I say. "When I got home, my parents didn't even let me sit down before they started to ask me a bunch of questions. They wanted to know everything, and I mean everything."

"What did you tell them," Jump asks.

"I told them Headmaster Noah offered the three of us a scholarship to Yellow Sun Academy, and that he wanted us to start packing. The moment my parents heard that they grabbed everything I had and threw it into these bags."

"Likewise," Jump says with a nod of her head. "Only, my parents got me a cart."

I shake my head at the cart.

"Lucky," I say.

It's only a few minutes later when the massive, black and red hover traincraft arrives, riding on the single track above it. As it comes to a complete stop, the barrier drops down and everyone starts to head inside.

"Where are we sitting," I ask, dragging my bags with me. I let them go and reach into my jacket pocket for the ticket the Headmaster send us. "Uhh, train number 3. Room number 12. Let's go."

"Wait, what," Jump says, stopping me. "I don't train number 3. I have train number 2. Room number 10."

"No way," I say. "That can't be right."

Jump shakes her head and shows me her ticket.

"You're right," I say. "Hold on. Shocker, let me see your ticket."

Shocker reaches into his pocket and hands me his traincraft ticket.

"Train number 5. Room number 7. Shoot. I can't believe this. We all have different rooms. Heck, we all have train numbers. That's suck."

Shocker shrugs his shoulder. He takes back his ticket and starts to walk off.

"Well," Jump says with a sigh. "I'll guess I'll see you when we get to Yellow Sun."

Jump disappears through a door pulling her luggage behind her. Meanwhile, I have to take a deep breath before carrying my heavy bags again.

Shocker:

I walk into the last train of the hover traincraft. Finding room number 7 in the very back after I walk past all the other rooms, I step onto the mat on the floor. The wooden door slides open and I enter a large room with white walls and a single window. Beside the window, I see a girl already sitting in one of the red seats.

"Oh hello," the girl says when she sees me. The girl, about the same age as me, had very long red hair with shining skin. She's also wearing armor. I recognize the model of the armor. It's a very expensive kind of light armor that is incredibly durable and can withstand most attacks.

I nod my head at the girl as I take my seat and look out the window.

"Uhh," the girl says. I turn toward her. "I'm Alice. What's your name?"

I don't answer the girl. Instead, I point to the name on my backpack's strap.

"Shocker," she slowly says. "Is that really your name?"

Once again, I nod my head.

"Hmm. Do you not talk?"

This time, I shake my head.

For some reason, I think I start to see a smile grow across her face. She nods her head and looks out the window. I do the exact same. We both look out the window, enjoying the beautiful blue sky as the hover traincraft flies through the air.

Jump:

Stepping onto the mat and the door sliding open, I pull the cart with all my luggage on it into the empty room. Picking a seat, I sit down while setting the stopper so the cart wouldn't roll away. As I step on the stopper, I hear the door slide open and turn around.

"Oh, hello," a young woman with long black hair says. "I'm sorry. I thought this was room number 10."

"Oh, it is," I say. "Train number 2, room number 10. Hello."

"Hello," the woman says, nodding her head back. "I asked for a private room but I guess the staff couldn't do it."

"Yeah," I say with a small laugh. "I thought the platform was a bit crowded. Especially for the best private fighter academy in the world."

The woman shows me a shaking smile. Dressed in a black and white shirt and skirt, I notice she also had holsters with guns in them. What I also notice is her lack of wheels. She had three large cases but no carts.

"I have to remember to thank my parents," I say, looking over to the cart I have. I watch for a few seconds as the woman stacks her cases on top of each other near her seats.

"You know," I say, "If you want, we can share this cart."

"Are you sure," she asks.

"Yeah," I reply. "There's room for three more cases."

"No," she says after a while. "It's fine. I don't want to be a burden to you."

"It's not a burden. It's just three more cases."

"No, no, no. It's fine. Thank you though."

"Okay," I say slowly. While I look out the window, I see the woman sinks into her seat and hide her face.

Hothead:

"Ahh," I cry, actual tears falling as I can finally drop my bags. Falling onto the seat, I spread out my arms and legs and sigh. "Finally. I can rest."

"Can you rest over there," a voice asks.

"What the," I scream, jumping out of my seat. Reaching for my sword, I'm about to pull it but stop when I realize the voice belongs to a person. A girl to be exact. A girl with very long yellow hair and in what I can only guess is an expensive dress with plates of armor covering it.

"Oh," I say, wiping some sweat from my forehead. "Sorry about that. I didn't see you."

"How could you not see me," the girl asks, "Do you know who I am?"

"Excuse me?"

"I am Alodia Darreth," the girl says, holding her hand over her chest. "Does that sound familiar to you?"

"No," I say with a shake of my head.

"You have never heard of the Darreth Family," Alodia asks.

Again, I shake my head.

"Really? You have never heard of the Darreth Family? Who are you? How did you get into Yellow Sun?"

"Scholarship."

"Scholarship," Alodia repeats. She then looks at me, her head bobbing up and down.

"You don't look much like a student. More like a troublemaker. What was the scholarship for? Who offers it to you?"

"Headmaster Noah."

Headmaster Noah offered you a scholarship to Yellow Sun Academy? You? There's no way that's possible. You're lying."

"Fine then, I'm lying."

"I knew it! You are lying. Seriously, why are you here?"

"Because Headmaster Noah offered me a scholarship. Believe me or not, that's the truth."

"But how did a troublemaker like you, who by the way, looks way too young, get a scholarship when I, Alodia Darreth, never got one?"

I shrug my shoulders.

"I mean, I'm an excellent fighter, a skilled tactician, and I even memorize some basic plant life from the Wild. Any academy would be lucky to have me. And yet, somehow, you, out of all the other student fighters in the whole world, get a scholarship!"

"Yup," I say with a nod of my head. Eyeing my bags beside her own shining bags, I grab them and move them to the opposite seat. There, I sit down peacefully, using one of my bags as a pillow. While I rest, Alodia goes on and on. She talks and talks and talks.

"Oh boy, this is going to be a very long trip."

5: Chapter 5: The First Day

Shocker:

"Hey," Alice says, tapping my shoulder as I get up and leave the hover train. I turn toward her. "I really hope to see you again."

Alice smiles as she nods her head. I nod my head as well before we both leave. As I get off the hover traincraft, I look for either Hothead or Jump. The platform is very crowded so I can't see them right away. It takes a while but finally, I see Jump rolling her luggage around. I wave at Jump and she waves back at me.

"Hey Shocker," Jump says with a smile. "How was your trip?"

I shrug my shoulder before pointing at Jump.

"My trip was fine," Jump says while shaking her head. "The student I was traveling with was very quiet. I mean, not as quiet as you, but still. A lot of awkward silences."

"I forget what silence is," Hothead says, sneaking up from behind me. He drops onto my back and lay there. "The person I traveled with wouldn't stop talking about how smart and intelligent she is. Let me tell you this. It was the longest trip I ever had to take, and I really miss you guys."

Hothead starts to cry. He cries into my jacket but I push him away. I raise my arm and point toward the massive crowd of new students walking somewhere. I nudge my head and follow after the students. Jump and I walk while Hothead drags his luggage behind him. Altogether, we all follow this stone path leading us from the platform through a small peaceful forest. After the forest, we find ourselves face to face with Yellow Sun Academy.

"Wow," Jump says, her eyes going wide.

"This is big," Hothead says, dropping his luggage.

Even I must admit, Yellow Sun Academy is unlike anything I have ever seen.

Yellow Sun Academy looks like a giant, shining, white castle. It looks bigger than our hometown. There are dozens of towers, shining as well. They're hidden behind a large stone wall, with the only entrance being a tall iron gate, and painted right on the iron gate is a yellow sun. The stone path we're on leads us through a beautiful courtyard with lush green grass and big red bushes. On the sides of the path are statues of who I can only guess are past fighters of the Yellow Sun Academy and even they are shining.

"Just wait," a student next to me says. This student is carrying a sword and shield and had blonde hair. "One day, one day, they're going to put a statue of me here."

As we students approach the iron gate, we stop when they start to open up. Slowly opening, we see Headmaster Noah and a bunch of teachers and professors standing on the other side. They walk out once the gates are open. They walk for a little bit before stones in the path start to move. They rise up and somehow turn into a platform for the Headmaster and teachers. The Headmaster walks up the new stone stairs and up to a stand. He pulls out his holo-display and displays it for all of us to see.

"Hello everyone," he starts, his face being on the dozens of screens floating around. "And welcome to Yellow Sun Academy."

Immediately, as soon as the Headmaster said those words, the students cheer. They jump up and down and raise their arms.

"Yeah," Hothead says, shaking his fist. "Yeah! Yeah!"

"Wooo," Jump cries, clapping her hands together. 

I keep my hands in my pockets.

The Headmaster chuckles as he goes on.

"Yes. Thank you for your excitement, and know that while I may not seem it, I am very proud myself to be the headmaster to all of you."

He adjusts his glasses.

"Here, at Yellow Sun Academy, we push students to be the greatest and finest fighters in all of the world. We teach all of you everything we know and so much more. We show each and every one of you the skills you will need to survive the Wild. The Wild is a dangerous place, filled with vicious animals with powerful gifts. There will be times that you feel like you don't belong here, and times that you feel like running away, but I encourage you, to fight through those times. Because you have already completed the hardest steps in your journey to become proud fighters. You have made it into Yellow Sun Academy."

Once more, the crowd of students roars with excitement. It takes a while but the Headmaster is finally able to calm them down.

"As some of you may have noticed, there seems to be quite a lot of 'transfer' students here. Am I right?"

When Headmaster Noah said this, we all start to look around at each other. A few students, including Hothead, start to count heads.

"Hmm," Hothead says after a few minutes. "Now that he mentioned it, there sure are a lot of us here. I wonder why. Aren't we in the middle of the year?"

"Yeah," Jump says, still looking around. "Why are there so many new students here?"

"The reason for this late start is that I, along with the other teachers and professors, were all busy with some government assignments. Nevertheless, Yellow Sun Academy is starting up, and with it, a new generation of fighters."

As if on cue, the teachers and professors standing behind the Headmaster stand up. They raise their arms and somehow, it set off something in the courtyard. The courtyard starts to shake and before any of us students can do anything, it changes from stone to a bright yellow sun, one glowing so bright it burns my feet. Stone pillars then shoot up from the ground surrounding us. They too have the glowing yellow sun on them.

"As beautiful as this is," Hothead says, covering his eyes. "This is starting to blind me a little."

The yellow sun stops glowing and all the teachers and professors sit back down.

"Now," the Headmaster goes on, "Normally, here at Yellow Sun Academy, we would give all of you new students a day to rest and recover from your long trip, follow shortly by a tour of the academy. This year, however, because of our late start, I'm afraid we will need to skip over that day of rest. Instead, students, prepare yourself for your first exam."

"First exam," Jump repeats, "Already?"

I hear similar whispers among the students.

"A first exam," someone else says. "Is Headmaster Noah being serious?"

"An exam already. My weapon is still packed away. Oh man, I hope it's not time exam. I have to move fast!"

"A first-day exam. Wow, I didn't see that coming. Then again, this is Yellow Sun Academy? What was I expecting?"

"All students," the Headmaster says, "Please return to your room on the hover traincraft. From there, you will be taken to the academy's private desert where you will find and form your team for the upcoming year. I do hope all of you are up to date on desert survival."

With that said, the Headmaster steps away from the stand.

6: Chapter 6: Drop-Off

Hothead:

"Uhhh," I start, looking out the window of the room. As far as I can see, there is nothing but sand, sand, and sand dunes, all under a light-blue full moon and stars-filled night. "Should we be concerned that it's nighttime now?"

"What," Alodia says with crossed arms and legs. "Are you afraid of the dark?"

"It's not the dark I'm afraid of," I reply. "It's the Wild desert and every animal in it that concern me. Concern me! Not scared me! The only thing that scared me is when people cry."

"What!"

"I'm scared of crying people but only because they make me very uncomfortable! I'm not actually scared of them. Also, I'm not big on being freezing cold."

"Could've fooled me," Alodia says. I look at Alodia but she's not even looking at me. Instead, she's checking something on her wrist. I roll my eyes and shake my head.

Jump:

"Do you have any experience with desert survival," I ask. I look out the window and see the academy's private desert. It's a literal sea of sand and a lot bigger than the forest back in Norwood.

"A little," my roommate answers. I turn away from the window and look at her. "Most of the time, when I go out into the Wild, it's usually a woodland area. Like a forest."

"Hey, same here," I say, laughing and pointing at myself. "Hey, I've just realized something. You and I haven't introduced ourselves yet. My name is Eimear but my two best friends called me Jump."

"Jump?"

"Yeah. It's a nickname, given to me by one of my friends. We, well I, called him Hothead. Honestly, I like the nicknames. What's your name?"

"Uhh," the girl mutters while stroking her long black hair. "Uhh. My name is Clementine."

"Well, hello Clementine," I say. I get up from my seat and walk over to Clementine. I then offer her my hand. "I hope we can become friends."

I nod my head and smile. Clementine seems a bit hesitant to shake my head but after a few minutes, she too nods her head and smiles. She then lightly shakes my hand. With that, I return back to my seat.

"So Clementine, you said you have a little experience with desert survival?"

"Yeah."

"Do you have any advice for me?"

Shocker:

As I re-enter the room, I take off my shoulder bag and put it in an empty seat. Taking the empty seat right next to it, I open my bag and pull out some tools. With the tools, I start to work on my metal gauntlets.

"That's a smart thing you're doing," Alice says. I look up and reply with both a smile and a nod of my head. Alice stares at me as I work on my gauntlets. While looking at me, she reaches into her own bag and pulls out what looks like a sniper rifle. The sniper rifle is purple and had a sight on top of it. Alice lays the gun across her lap and starts to work on it.

"Hey," she says after a few minutes. "Do you have a plasma cleaner I can borrow for a little bit?"

I search my bag and find my plasma cleaner. Handing it over to Alice, she takes the cleaner and uses it to clean the inside of her weapon.

"Thanks," she says. Alice tries to give me the plasma cleaner back but I put up my hand and shake my head. I then point to Alice's rifle.

"What? What is it?"

I shake my head and get up. As I walk over to Alice, I put up both of my hands. Carefully and gently, I slowly take the rifle from Alice. Thankfully, Alice lets me have it. Dropping to a knee, I point to the rifle's trigger and the chamber. I then point to the plasma cleaner in Alice's hand.

"Oh," Alice says with a smile. "You're saying I should clean more than just the barrel. You're right. Thank you again for the cleaner."

I nod my head and give Alice her rifle back. While she cleans the trigger, I return to my seat and adjust the sliding metal plates of my gauntlets. While the two of us are working on our weapons, the speakers above us come on, and the Headmaster's voice is heard.

"Attention all students," Headmaster Noah starts. "Please leave your bags in your room and come to the traincraft's hull immediately. Also, do not forget your weapons."

Alice and I look at each other before we leave our rooms.

"Hey," Alice says as we walk side-by-side. "Best of luck."

Once more, I nod my head As Alice and I walk down the hallway, it quickly becomes crowded with other students. Before Alice and I are separate, I shoot out my fist. Thankfully, Alice understands what I'm going for. She shoots out her own fist and we both pound it before splitting.

Headmaster Noah:

As the traincraft's hull is quickly filling up with the new transfer students, I adjust my glasses. It takes only a few minutes before all the students are here. Once they are here, I turn to my fellow assistant headmistress.

"Amaya," I say.

"Yes Headmaster Noah," Amaya says, stepping forth.

"Are the pods ready?"

Dressed in a white shirt and black skirt and with long blond hair tied into a single ponytail, assistant headmistress Amaya brings up her own holo-display. She checks the screen before answering me.

"Yes, they are," Amaya answers. "All pods are functional and are ready."

"Excellent, Please bring them up."

"Of course."

With the push of a holographic button, Amaya activates the pods. One by one, tall, metal pods shoot out from the hull's metal floor. As they shoot out, they unleash a little bit of smoke before the glass doors swing open.

"Thank you," I say.

"You're welcome, sir."

She steps back while I step forward. As my feet hit the metal staircase, the sound echoes and grabs the attention of all the students. Their eyes all turn to face me even before I reach the top of the platform.

"Hello, students," I start. "Your first test begins now. In my personal opinion, the greatest partners and teams are forged in the field. Here, in our private desert, your year-long partnership and teams, and possibly for the rest of your lives, will be forged."

I stop talking and reach into one of my pockets. I pull out a small game piece and show it to everyone.

"You, along with your team, a maximum of only 4, will travel to a ruined temple North of here. There, you will have game pieces similar to this one in my hand. Each member will pick on. Choose carefully. Once you have your chosen game pieces, you will receive coordinates to where you will be picked up. Now, all students, please step into an ejection pod."

One by one, all of the students quickly step into an ejection pod. All except one. One student slowly steps into his. As he steps into it, the glass door closes.

"Uhh, excuse me," the student, a young boy with very short blond hair says while tapping the glass. "Uhh, I have a question."

"Not yet," I say, walking down the platform. As I walk down and away from the platform, I walk into the middle of the room and surround myself with all the new students. "Take this advice I am giving to all of you. Do not 'pick' your partner or your team. Let the Wild pick them for you."

With that said, I turn to assistant headmistress Amaya and give her a nod. Amaya nods back and pushes another button on her holo-display. As she pushes the button, the first set of pods shoots out, dropping the students into the desert below.

"What is it that you wanted to ask," I say, turning to the student.

"Yeah," the student says, still tapping his glass door. "Uhh, do these pods have anything like parachutes? Because I'm looking around and I don't see one. Oh, wait! Are they going to land gently below?"

"No," I answer. "The pods will open halfway down. Afterward, you will need to get down yourself."

"What! Wait, you're kidding! Right? There's no way you would just eject us halfway while we're still in mid-air! Right?"

I turn my head as five more pods are shot into the desert below. The students must have noticed too because now, he is throwing himself against the glass door.

"Calm down," I say, "You will be fine."

"How sure are you of that," the student asks.

"About seven percent," I answer with a shrug of my shoulder.

"Only seven percent," the student repeats. His pod then ejects.

I walk over to a window in the wall of the hull. Looking outside, I see all of the pod openings.

"What a strange student," I say, turning to walk with the assistant headmistress.

7: Chapter 7: In the Desert

Hothead:

As my pod falls faster and faster, the window ejects, and the floor tilts. Sliding out of the pod, I fall through the cold night sky toward a sand-covered ground. With my arms and legs spread out, I reach for my sword as I spin around in the air.

Waiting for the right moment, until it looks like the sand is about to punch me in the face, I swing with all my might and unleash a massive flame. Screaming as I swing my sword, the force of it and the hot air from my fire push me back. Together, they soften my landing as I fall right onto a sand dune. Rolling down it, I hit the bottom and stop.

"Ahh," I cry out. Having to split out some sand and dust myself off, I then look around. As far as my eyes can see, there's nothing around me but sand, sand, and sand dunes.

"Hmm," I say, looking back up as rockets beneath my pod carry it back toward the hovertrain craft.

"Shoot," I yell, slapping myself on the forehead. "Did the Headmaster say east or west? Or North? Also, which way is east and west? And North?"

I look around again but see only sand again.

"Uhhh," I say, spinning around and around in circles. The world starts to spin after a few minutes and I have to stop. Shaking my head, I look around one last time before picking a direction and walking. Using my gift, I encase my sword in bright orange flame and use it as a torch. As I walk with a torch as my guide, I can't help but wonder something.

"I wonder where Shocker and Jump are, and how they're doing?"

Shocker:

As I'm ejected from my pod, I place my arms against the sides of my body and my legs against each other. Straightening myself, I fall at a rapid speed. Looking down and seeing the incoming sand, I activate my gauntlets. My gauntlets come on and encase my arms in metal armor. I then use my gift to electrify them.

As I hit the sand with my electrified arms, the impact unleashes a massive wave of pure blue and white electricity that sends the sand flying everywhere. Pushing myself up from a glass crater, I dust a few shards of glass off my shoulder and scan the surrounding area.

As far as I can see, there isn't much around me at the current moment. Just the sand, the night sky, and the full moon with the stars.

I think back to what the Headmaster said. He mentioned the game pieces that would be in a ruined temple North of where we were dropped off.

Looking up again, I examine the stars. Based on the stars in the night sky, I know which way is North and start to walk. Despite the full moon and the many stars above my head, it is still very dark and there are very few lights.

I raise one of my hands and use my gift again. Electricity flows from within me and gathers in my hand. The electricity in my hand acts as a light source for me. As I walk through the sand with my glowing hand, I begin to feel the sand beneath my feet shake.

Jump:

Grabbing onto the glass window as it ejects and falls out, I look down at the quickly approaching desert.

I spy an approaching sand dune, the tallest one around. Placing the window against the bottom of my shoes, I use my gift of enhanced jumps to jump off the window. The window shatters as I jump off the window and toward the tallest sand dune. Rocketing toward it, I flip over and use my gift once more to jump off the sand dune. I bounce off the sand dune before flipping over and landing on my feet.

Now on my feet, I adjust my wrist-mounted crossbows. As I adjust them, I look up and see only my pod flying back to the hovertrain craft.

"Wait! Where are the other pods? Where is everyone else? I know I saw other students getting dropped off but where did they land? Before I go and find those game pieces, I should try and find someone. Strength in number and besides, who knows what else is out here?"

With my crossbows loaded and ready, I use my gift to jump high in the air, landing back on the top of the tallest sand dunes. Once on the very top, I hold my hand above my eyes and look around. While looking around, I see something that isn't too far away.

"Is that the temple? No, wait. That can't be. This is supposed to be some sort of team-building test. But I haven't built my team yet. Maybe I'm supposed to build them at the temple with the game pieces?"

Still confused, I use my gift to jump from one sand dune to another. With one final leap, I land on what looks like an old stone pathway with ruined pillars on both sides. The stone pathways lead to a crumbling temple. While most of the temple is either destroyed or buried in the sand, the entrance is surprisingly still standing. Carefully peeking into a dimly lit hallway while holding out my crossbows. I scan for anything like traps or game pieces.

"Nothing," I think. "No trap or game pieces. Is this the wrong temple?"

I look back out but as far as I can tell, the only thing out here is sand and a ruined pathway. Taking a deep breath and exhaling through my nose, I carefully walk into the temple. As I enter the temple and look around, I see a series of smaller dark hallways, all leading in different directions. I pick one of the hallways and walk down it.

"This temple is bigger than it looks. I hope I don't get lost."

As soon as I think about it, I realize something and turn around.

"Oh, man!"

Without even realizing it, I had walked deep into the hallway. Deeper than I should have, especially considering I don't have anything like a light source.

"Shoot," I say. I curse myself as I start to walk back out. Only, as I start to walk back, instead of coming to the temple's entrance, I come to a room with more pitch-black hallways leading in various directions.

"Oh, man," I repeat, my hands dropping to my sides. I can't be sure which way I came from or which way to go. Somehow, I wander into a maze of pitch-black pathways, each pathway looking exactly the same.

Shocker:

Somehow, I stumble upon an oasis in the middle of the academy's private desert. Instead of sand, I'm standing on lush green grass and surrounded by tall palm trees. Only a few feet in front of me is a large body of water. It's either a pond or a lake.

Licking my dried lips as I look at the water, I look left and right for any signs of danger. When I see nothing, I slowly walk toward it, still looking. Once I reach the water, I drop to my knee and deactivate my gauntlets. My metal armor folding in on itself, I then reach down with both my hands and make a bowl. Capturing water in my hands, I bring it up to my mouth. I give the water a quick taste.

It tastes cold and plain. Exactly like water. There's nothing more.

Tilting my head back, I drink all the water from my hands. While wiping my mouth after I finish, I look down at the water again and see ripples on it. I stare at the ripples and realize something.

Before I can get out of the way, something thin and black shoots out from the water. It grabs me, wrapping itself around my waist and pulling me in. I try to activate my gift but before I can, with one last tug, the thing pulls me into the water.

In no time, I find myself sinking deeper and deeper into some sort of black void.

Hothead:

"Oh come on," I yell, throwing my hands and sword into the air. I slap myself on the head and look back down. I can't believe my eyes. I can't believe what I'm seeing. I'm trying to tell myself it's an illusion, possibly made from the tiredness, but not. It's there as clear as the night sky.

"I'm walking in circles," I scream, staring at my own footprints. I check the prints in the sand, comparing them with the prints on the bottom of my shoes. "Yeah. They matched. Prints for prints."

I slap myself on the head again before kicking the footprints.

"Okay. Okay! Don't panic. Do not panic. Remember what you've learned from Junior Fighter Academy. Panicking does nothing but waste time and energy. I need to calm my head and think. I need to form a plan."

I take a deep breath and begin to think.

"Which way is north," I ask myself. "Which way is north?"

I rack my brain for an answer but the only thing that comes to mind is whether or not I even started walking north in the first place.

"No," I told myself. "I couldn't have been walking north. If I had, then I wouldn't have stumbled upon my footprints. Darn it! Why didn't I pay more attention in navigation class? Oh yeah. I accidentally set the Professor's desk on fire and the Professor put me in the very back of the class."

As I remember the massive fire and the screaming Professor, I shake my head and look around.

"What am I even looking for? It's not like there's going to be an answer on the--Hey, wait. What the hell?"

As I keep looking around, my head spinning in circles, I look to the right and see another set of footprints.

"No way! A separate trail!"

I run to the separate trail as fast as I can. Dropping to my knees, I then carefully examine them.

"They're not mine. They're not mine!"

I cry and shout and jump up with my arms in the air.

"They're not my footprints! Yeah!"

I drop back down and examine them again. As I examine them, I make note of a single cube behind a triangle shape.

"Are these...heel imprints? No way they're Shocker. And Jump doesn't wear heels. It must be another female student?"

Getting back onto my feet, I follow the trail. It takes a while but finally, see someone walking along the sand.

"Strange," I think as I approach the person. "Don't I know that person?"

The person, a girl, had very long yellow hair and is wearing a white and red dress with armor plating on it. From the design, I think it's a very expensive dress.

"Wait," I say, my feet coming to a skid as I reach the girl. "I know you!"

The girl, having to split out some sand, dusts herself off and looks at me. The second she sees me, her eyes go from white to red. Quite frankly, the feeling is mutual.

"You," Alodia says.

"You," I say. "Oh come on! Am I not already in a horrible situation? Ahh! What could be worse than this?"

8: Chapter 8: Partners

Hothead:

"You must stay six feet back," Alodia orders, putting up a third finger. "That is rule number 3. Rule number 4. You must address me as Ms. Darreth. Do you understand?"

"Yup," I say with a nod of my head.

"Rule 5. Do not say yup. We are not friends. I am not your 'bro' or whatever. It is either a yes or a no. Do you understand?"

"Yup," I say with a nod of my head.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Yup," I say with a nod of my head.

"You're going to fall if you don't stop."

"Yup," I say with a nod of my head. "Wait, what did you say?"

Before Ms. Darreth can answer, my foot lands on nothing and I fall over a cliff.

"Hothead," Ms. Darreth shouts, running and peeking over the ledge. Looking down, she sees me hanging to the side of the cliff. As I was falling, I pulled out my sword and stabbed the cliff with it.

"Are you okay," Ms. Darreth asks. "Here. Give me your hand."

Ms. Darreth reaches down and offers me her hand. Having to swing around for a bit, I finally grab her hand and she pulls me up.

"Thanks," I say as I climb back up.

"Don't thank me," Ms. Darreth says as she pushes herself and dusts herself off. "You're an idiot, you know that. If you pay even a little attention to your surroundings, you would have noticed that giant cliff. What would have happened if I wasn't here to pull you up?"

"Chances are," I say, getting up and dusting myself off. As I do, I look down and see a lot of sharp rocks at the bottom. "I would have a few holes in me. Thanks again for the save."

Ms. Darreth rolls her head and clicks her tongue. She looks past the cliff to the other side.

"North is that way," she says, pointing to the other side.

"Yes," I say, "North is that way, but that's in our way."

I kick some sand over the side and watch as it falls.

"I don't suppose your gift is flight. Otherwise, we'll need to find a way around."

Ms. Darreth and I look left and right. As far as our eyes can see, there seems to be no end to the cliff. It's like one giant, crooked, black line and unfortunately, we're on the wrong side of the line.

"Come on," I say with a nudge of my head. "Let's head this way. Maybe we can find something that will help us get across."

"Like what," Ms. Darreth asks. "Are you hoping the academy built a bridge all the way out here?"

"Not exactly a bridge," I answer, "But more like just two cliffs closer together."

Ms. Darreth runs up and grabs me by the shoulder. She turns me around and gazes at me.

"Are you telling me you're hoping to find two cliffs close enough for us to jump!"

"Well, yeah. That's my plan. Do you have a better one?"

Ms. Darreth lowers her head and sighs.

"That's a no, isn't it?"

Ms. Darreth sighs once more and pushes me out of the way. Together, we walk alongside the cliffside.

"Six feet," she yells.

"Yup," I say with a nod of my head.

Shocker:

It feels like my lungs are about to burst. No matter what I do, no matter how hard I pull, I can't get free of the thing in the water. The thing pulls me deep into the water and before I know it, something else wraps itself around one of my feet.

Activating my gauntlets but not my gift, I pry the thing from around my waist. Using one arm to keep the thing from my waist, I use my other arm to snap the thing around my foot. Once free, I swim back up as fast as I can. Bursting out of the water, I try to swim back to land but I feel something wraps around my waist again. As it tries to pull me down, I grab the thing with my metal hands and struggle to break free. While struggling, I hear someone screaming.

"Quickly," a boy with white and brown hair says. "Grab on!"

He swings his hand and something shoots out toward me. Looking like a black wire, I grab the wire. The boy then swings his hand back, the wire following and pulling me out of the water.

I fly through the air for a bit before falling back on dry land. The second my back is on dry land, I hit my chest, and water shoots out of my mouth. Now that I can breathe again, I look up to see the boy hovering over me.

"Are you okay," the boy asks.

I try to get up but the boy pushes me down.

"Don't get up too fast," he says. "Take some time to rest."

I shake my head and point at the water. The thing that tries to pull me in finally emerges from beneath the water. Water splashes everywhere as a massive animal with a long black body and white armor rises, it swings its dozen tentacles around.

"A giant crustacle," the boy says, standing up. "Hunt by hiding in the water until a prey stops for a drink. Honey, keep him safe while I deal with the crustacle."

I don't even have time to think about what is happening before a girl appears before me. The girl has short orange hair and is wearing a white, sleeveless vest with a pink skirt.

"On it," Honey says, slapping her hand against her forehead. She pulls her weapon out from behind her and aims it at the crustacle. She doesn't shoot, however. Instead, she just aims it at the beast while dragging me away.

"Come on," she says as she drags me. "Chadd tends to run around a lot when he fights. It's best to give him some room."

Dragging and dropping me underneath the shade of a palm tree, she picks me up and places me against the trunk. She then sits down beside me and together, we watch Chadd fight the crustacle.

Jump:

"Darn it," I say after walking out of another pitch-black hallway. Walking around a corner, I come across another intersection, filled with more hallways. I look down and see one of my bolts. Dropping to my knee, I pick up the bolt.

"I've already been here. I'm walking in circles."

I shake my head and put the bolt back down. I pull out another bolt from my crossbow and place it in front of the hallway I just exited. With that hallway marked, I look around and see one hallway without a bolt. Without much choice, I start to walk down that hallway. However, it looks exactly like all the others.

"Stonewall. Stone walkway. Pitch-black all around."

As I keep walking, trying to find a way out of here or at least a game piece, I think I hear something and immediately turn around.

"Nothing. That's weird."

I turn around and walk again, but after a few steps, I hear the sound again. It sounds like someone is tapping against the stone wall but way faster. Too fast to be a normal person. Unless that person's gift is enhanced speed.

"Okay," I shout into the darkness. "Who's there? Come on. Stop playing around. It's dark and creepy enough in here as it is. I don't need this. What I need is an exit."

The only thing to answer me is the rapid tapping. As I listen closely, the tapping seems to be getting closer. It seems to be moving toward me.

"What the hey," I scream when I see a bunch of tiny black dots moving toward me. The black dots cover the hallway. They're on the ground, on the floor, and even on the ceiling. They're moving toward me, tapping as they move.

Using both my crossbows, I fire a few bolts but they don't do anything except knock down a few bugs. As they get closer and closer, I have no choice but to run. Running as fast as I can, I run into three different pathways, each going in a separate direction. None of them have any bolts, meaning they're all new, unexplored pathways.

The tapping only a few feet from away, I choose to go straight ahead. As I run, I turn and fire as many bolts as possible. Once again, they do nothing but knock off a few dots. Running and running without stopping, I see a turn coming up ahead. Seeing a light coming from around the corner, I pick up the pace and put forth whatever energy I have left. As soon as I reach the corner, I turn but instead of seeing an exit, I see a boy with yellow hair.

As I run into him, our heads bump and our lips touch.

9: Chapter 9: The Light at the End

Renee Eamon:

"What is this place?"

I stop walking when I see something in the sand. Running right up to it, I see what looks like ancient stone ruins. The ruins include some pillars and a pathway, both are made from crumbling stone.

"Ancient ruins," I think. "Is this the place? Finally! Yes! I can grab one of those game pieces the Headmaster mentioned!"

I follow the crumbling pathway until I see a large entrance. The entrance is made from stacks and stacks of crumbling stone. It looks like it was built right into a sand dune.

About to run in, I stop when I realize something. Looking at the entrance again, I see that it's pitch-black. It makes sense since the entrance is facing away from the moon. I narrow my eyes to try and see better but it's no use.

"I can barely see inside. Maybe I should turn back. No! Come on, Renee! You have to be smart about this! This is Yellow Sun Academy. You can't screw this up. Not after all you did to get here in the front place."

I shake my head and look around for something can use. As I look around, I see some long brown weeds growing in the cracks between the crumbling stones. An idea sparks in my head and I reach over to pull out some weeds. Grabbing only the longest weeds, I have about a handful of them before I raise my hand. In my hand, I have my shining white shield. Pushing a button behind my shield, a secret component opens, and my broadsword shoots out of it.

I grab my sword and wrap the weed around the blade. Once tightly secured, I strike my sword against the stone over and over again until the weed catches on fire and ignites.

"Yes," I shout, raising my homemade torch into the air. With my torch burning brightly, I take a deep breath and venture through the entrance and into the dark.

It doesn't take long before I find myself in a maze of stone hallways. There are hallways going in every direction, all of them leading into pitch darkness.

"Which way do I go? Why aren't there any signs around here? Shouldn't there be signs pointing to the game pieces?"

As I keep walking around, I start to hear footsteps. It sounds like they're moving fast, and getting closer. About to turn a corner, I accidentally run into someone. As we run into each other, our lips meet, and I feel a jolt. The jolt sends shivers down my spine. It makes me feel alive and so full of energy. The jolt lasts only a brief second before we both fall onto the ground.

"Ouch," I cry. I shake my head and look at the person. With the torch in my hand, I can clearly see a girl also on the ground. The girl has short brown hair and is wearing a dark blue jacket and pants with armor pads on them. Also, she had on silver gloves with crossbows on them.

As she moans and rubs her head, she finally notices me.

Jump:

"Ouch," I cry, rubbing my head. Pushing through the headache, I look to see a young boy with short yellow hair. He's wearing a chest plate and armor sleeves over a hoodie and pants. Also, he appears to be holding a sword that's on fire.

About to ask who he is, I stop when I hear the familiar tapping. I push myself up and help the boy up.

"Move," I scream, pushing the boy as the tapping chases after us.

"Wait," the boy shouts as I push him. "What are you doing? Why are you chasing me? What's that tapping?"

"It's bad news," I answer. I stop when the two of us come to an intersection. Once again, I'm faced with three different hallways, each going in a separate direction. "Quick! Which way did you come from? Please tell me you remember which way you come from?"

I slap myself on the face when I hear the boy's answer.

"Uhh..."

"Watch out," I shout, looking at the black dots as they reach him. The black dots gather all together and form a large, towering lump. They tower over him and from the look of it, prepare to bring him down, but before they can, the boy turns around and screams. He swings his flaming sword and cuts off a piece of the lump.

The lump screams as it loses its head. It stumbles back while black dots fall from it.

"Wait," the boy screams, looking at the flaming sword in his hand. "I know what these are. I know what these are!"

"What are they," I yell, walking up to him with my crossbows.

"They're called swantle," the boy answers. "They travel in swarms and work together to eat their prey. They can form arms and bodies to overpower their foods."

"Swantle," I repeat. "Wait, I have heard of these before. I read about them once. They lived in darkness, and hate light! More specifically, they hate fire."

I eye the boy's flaming sword.

"Keep swinging that sword," I shout, pointing at the flaming sword. "Swantle hates fire!"

As the boy keeps the swarm of swantles back, I use my wrist-mounted crossbows to knock a few of them down. However, no matter how many bolts I shoot, they go right through the lump of swantles.

"Come on," I say, looking left and right. "Where's the exit? Where's the exit? It can't be too far away. I mean, I ran right into this guy! If this guy had got any deeper, he would also have swantles after him!"

"Uhh, bad news," the boy says as he keeps swinging his sword. "The fire on my sword is starting to die down! And I didn't think to grab any more weeds!"

I look toward the flaming sword and see he's right. The fire is getting smaller, and with a smaller fire, the lump of swantle is growing bigger and bigger. More swantles crawl out and climb onto the lump so now it even had arms.

As the lump of swantles swings its massive arms, it shakes the pathway, causing some stone and even sand to fall.

"Wait, sand?"

I look again and see some sand raining down from above us.

"Keep them right there," I shout, raising both my crossbows and firing as many bolts as I can into the ceiling. The bolts stick to the ceiling, in between the cracks in the stones. Some stones actually coming out, I look toward the flaming sword.

"Quickly," I say, hitting the boy on his shoulder. "Stab the stone that is falling out! Stab it and push it out!"

"Are you crazy," the boy shouts. "If I do that, then the fire will die out and the swantles will get us!"

"Unless you can remember which way is out, then the swantles already got us! Just do it!"

The boy groans as he steps forward. He screams as he stabs a loose stone in the ceiling. As he does, the fire around his sword dies out and the lump of swantles rushes toward us. Just before the lump could reach him, the boy pulls out the loose stone. It drops into the lump and disappears.

"Now what," the boy asks as he jumps back.

"Now we step back," I say, grabbing the boy and jumping back. The lump prepares to move toward us but as it does, the loose stone falling out causes a chain reaction. Other stones fall from the ceiling and onto the lump, stunning it. It's only a few more seconds when the whole ceiling collapses, a combination of ancient stones and sand from the outside falling onto and crushing the lump.

The boy and I watch as most of the swantles are killed while what few of them remain are scared by the moonlight. They run back into the pitch-black hallways.

"Hey," I say, tapping the boy on his arm. "I can't help but get the feeling this isn't the ruin the Headmaster mentioned."

"No kidding," the boy replies. "Do you, uhh, want to get out of here and find the right one?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

With a nod of our heads, we climb up the pile of stone and sand and back outside.

10: Chapter 10: Team Building

Alodia Darreth:

"Are we there yet?"

"No," I answer, fighting the urge to pull my ears off.

"Are we there yet?"

"No," I repeat, now fighting the urge to pull my ears and Hothead's head off.

"Are we there yet?"

"Do you see a crossing? Do you see something like a bridge? If not, then we are not there yet! Now, will you please shut up!"

"Alodia," Hothead yells.

"What," I yell, turning around. "What is it now? What do you want? Why can't you shut up!"

"Incoming!"

Hothead then tackles me and the two of us fall to the sand. Before I can ask why, the sand beneath where I was standing explodes, and something looking like a large, black line comes up. It approaches it, opening its mouth and showing off its sharp teeth.

"Yeah," Hothead says, reaching for his sword. "We're not there yet."

Holding his sword up, I watch as Hothead's sword catches on fire.

"Let me guess," I say, pushing myself up. "Your gift."

"Yeah," Hothead says. "There's a reason why I prefer to go Hothead."

Chadd Owen:

Jumping and flipping through the air, I curl into a ball, making it harder for the crustacle to grab me. Landing on the other side of the beast, the crustacle roars as it rotates. It shoots out its dozen of tentacles but I counter with my own wires. With the swing of my arm, metal wires shoot out from sheathes tied to my waist. Using my gift, I make my wire cut right through the crustacle's tentacles. The beast cries as it loses its arms. It steps back while I step forward.

Without the tentacles, the crustacle charges toward it. It jumps and tries to crush me. Seeing this, I swing my hands again, wires shooting out and hitting the ground. Flying back, the crustacle misses me. Before it can try anything else, I shoot out only one of my wires. The wire moves fast, flying through the air and going through a tree.

"Hey," Honey says. "Watch it!"

As the wire pulls me in, I flip through the air and shoot out the second wire. The second wire swings through the air like a sword. It comes down on the crustacle, slicing the beast directly in half. The two halves fall separately while I fall back on the ground, near Honey and the other student.

"I'm sorry about that," I say, pulling back both my arm and the wire that was in the tree. I nod my head and Honey shrugs her shoulder. I turn my head when I see someone pulling himself up.

The student we rescued is coughing and hitting his chest. Once he's done, he gives Honey and me a thumbs-up.

"Are you okay," I ask.

The student nods his head.

"Hi," Honey says, pushing me aside. She smiles wider and waves at the student. "I'm Honey. This is Chadd. What's your name?"

The student doesn't talk. Instead, he drops to a knee and writes something in the sand.

"Shocker," I read. "Wait, Shocker? That's your name?"

Shocker nods his head.

"Shocker," Honey repeats. "That's a strange name. Oh wait, is that a nickname? It's not your actual name!"

Again, Shocker nods his head.

"Oh, but you rather go by your nickname than your actual name. That's okay. Well, Shocker, it's a real pleasure to meet you!"

Honey then slaps Shocker's back. When she does, Shocker's eyes go wide and he opens his mouth. He rubs his back while Honey pulls back and smiles.

"Sooo," she starts, tipping back and forth with her hands together. "By any chance do you have a game piece?"

Shocker shakes his head.

"Have you seen any ruined temples?"

Shocker shakes his head.

"Do you know which way is North?"

This time, Shocker nods his head and points behind us. We turn around and then back to Shocker.

"North is that way," Honey asks. "How can you be sure?"

Shocker points upward. Honey and I look up for a few seconds finally realizing what Shocker is pointing at.

"The stars," I say. "You can tell which way is which by the stars."

Shocker nods his head again.

"Well in that case," Honey says, pushing Shocker. "Let's go! The three of us! You lead."

With apparently no choice in the matter, Shocker leads Honey and me North.

"You don't talk much," Honey says after Shocker pushes her off. "Do you?"

Hothead:

Screaming as I leap into the air, I swing my sword and hit the animal in its drooling mouth. The animal roars as it shakes its head around. Landing on my feet, I look back at the animal as it turns its head toward me.

Lunging forth, the animal is about to swallow me whole but something appears around me and protects me.

"What in the world," I say, watching as the animal rams its head into the bright-glowing, white wall.

"Considered us even," Alodia says. Patting down my rapidly beating heart, I look and see Alodia standing right there.

"Have you been here the whole time?"

While Alodia's rolling her eyes, I laugh. While standing next to Alodia, I notice how her hands are together. The palms of her hands are placed against one another, and they're glowing. I look at her hand and then at the white wall.

"This is you," I say, "Isn't it? This is your gift. Protection? Barrier? Wall summoning?"

"Shield summoning," Alodia says. "Oh, and by the way, these are my weapons."

Alodia pulls her hands apart. The second she does, the shield around us disappears. The animal roars when it sees the shield down. It lunges toward us once again.

"Shield," I say, "Summon a shield! Now!"

Alodia doesn't summon a shield. Instead, she pulls back her hands. The complete opposite of her shield gift.

"Watch this," Alodia says as thin, glowing discs appear in each of her hands. The glowing discs spin at incredible speeds. I watch as Alodia throws the discs, the discs humming as they fly through the air. They fly around the animal, doing circles until hitting it.

The discs cut right through the animal, going right through its head and back inside and coming back at. This process repeats over and over again until the animal gives one last roar before the two discs cut the head off. With the animal defeated, the glowing discs vanish.

"That's how you defeat an annelinthes," Alodia says. "You're going to need more than a flaming sword to take one down."

"Apparently, we're going to need more than tiny spinning discs to take one down as well!"

"What?"

I point behind Alodia as the annelinthes quickly recovers. Its head somehow pushes itself to the ground and runs toward Alodia. It jumps toward Alodia before she can turn around.

As the annelinthes show off its sharp teeth, I rush forward to help my partner out. However, something hits the head from the side and knocks it down.

"A crossbow bolt," I say, seeing a single silver bolt sticking out of the annelinthes's head. I feel a smile coming on and look around.

"Hothead," Jump says as she lands in front of me. "No way. Is that you?"

"Long time no see," I say, smiling as I spread out my arms. Jump immediately runs into my arms and we hug.

"I am so happy to see you," I say, holding back tears. "I really hate my partner."

"Excuse me," Alodia says, raising her voice. "But I can hear you. It's not like you have been the greatest partner either."

We both ignore Alodia and hug each other again. As we pull apart, I see someone standing behind Jump.

"Oh, hey," I say, shooting the guy a quick wave. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," the guy slowly answers. "Uhh, I guess you two are friends."

"This is Hothead," Jump says, stepping back to introduce me. "He's one of my best friends. Hothead, have you seen Shocker anywhere?"

I shake my head.

"No," I reply, "I haven't. I hope he's okay."

The three of us hear someone clear their throat. We turn to see Alodia with crossed arms and a tapping foot.

"Hello," she says with a wave. "What's going on here? Who are these two?"

"This is Jump," I answer, "And that is--Who are you?"

"My name is Renee," Renee answers with a smile. "Uhh, hello."

"Hello. My name is Alodia. Alodia Darreth. I'm sure you have heard of me. At the very least, you heard of the Darreth family."

Jump and Renee look at each other before turning back to Alodia. They look at each other again before looking at me. I shrug.

"How did any of you make it into Yellow Sun?"

"Scholarship," I say, pointing at Jump and myself.

"Uhh, I got a recommendation," Renee says after clearing his throat.

Alodia shakes her head and rolls with eyes.

"Come on," she growls. "North is this way. We're looking for a bridge."

11: Chapter 11: Game Pieces

Clementine Mira:

I climb up and over the sand dune. When I reach the top, I hold my hand over my eyes and scan the surrounding area.

"Finally," I say. After many miles through the freezing cold desert, I finally see the ruined temple the Headmaster told us about. Nothing more than a white dot at first, I move closer to the temple and start to see pillars and arches.

"Wow," I say as I step onto a large, cracked, sand-covered platform. With sandy white pillars guiding me as I walk through the ruins, it doesn't take me long to find the game pieces sitting on little supports. The second I see them, I run up to them.

"Yes," I say, looking at all the game pieces. I move from game piece to game piece, trying to decide which I should take. As I keep looking, I notice a few supports are empty.

"What kind of game pieces are these," I ask, stopping. I look closer at the game pieces. They appear to be unique symbols, made completely from various colored metals. Looking around some more, I pick one up.

"I wonder what this means."

The game piece I picked up is a dark blue color. The symbol appears to be three stars within an oval.

I look at the other game pieces and compare them to the one I have.

"Choose carefully," the Headmaster told us. "You, along with your team, will travel to a ruined temple. There, you will each pick one."

"I didn't come here with a team," I think. "What does this mean? Does it mean I'll only meet my new team after they pick out their game pieces? In that case, I hope I don't regret choosing this one."

As I grip the game piece in my hand, I look under it and see the coordinates for the pick-up. Turning around, I start to walk back out. However, as I'm walking, I hear another sound and quickly turn around.

"Nothing," I tell myself. I start walking, the only sound is my footsteps against the platform. Once more, I hear a strange sound. I pretend not to hear it and take a few more steps before stopping completely.

This time, I hear the strange sound clearly. It's a slithering sound. I reach for my weapon and turn around.

Honey Aatish:

"So if you don't talk," I ask, "Then how do you work with others? I mean, how do you tell them your battle plan? How do you tell them to watch out? How do you tell them there's an animal behind them, ready to pounce and devour them?"

I growl and bring up my pretend claws.

Shocker doesn't answer me. At least, I don't think he answers me. He just points at something.

"What," I say, turning around but seeing nothing but sand and sand dunes. "What? What is it? What? What! What are you pointing at? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"

Shocker shakes his head. He points at himself and then back out.

"I think Shocker is telling us this is how he alerts others," Chadd says. "He's telling us he points."

"Ohh," I say. "Hmm. I guess that's okay. Hey, what's that?"

Now it's my turn to point. I point over to something not too far in the distance. It looks like ruins.

"Is that them," I ask, "Is it? Is it! Are those the ruins with the game pieces! Are they? Are they!"

Shocker grabs both my shoulders and pushes me down. He stands before me and nods his head. He then nudges his head to the side and runs to the temple.

"I'm guessing that's his way of saying yes," I say. Chadd nods his own head before we follow Shocker. It takes a while but the three of us finally make it to the temple. We run right through the crumbling stone archway and toward the center of the ruins. There, sitting on little stone pillars are the game pieces. However, before we can grab one, Shocker stops us.

"Ouch," I yell after Shocker shoots out his arms and stops Chadd and me. "What? What is it?"

As expected, Shocker doesn't answer me. He lowers his arms and looks around the ruined temple. His head snaps left and right as he looks. He then wraps his hands around his ear.

"We never got the chance to ask this," I say, leaning toward Chadd. "But what is Shocker's gift?"

Shocker's head snaps one more time before he jumps and pushes Chadd and me out of the way. The three of us fall to the ground as a tall girl with long black hair lands in front of us. The second she sees us, she yells.

"Move!"

Even before Shocker, Chadd, or I can ask what she means, a loud slithering sound followed by the sound of rocks breaking grabs our attention.

"A serpecdysis," Chadd says as the massive brown and black serpecdysis slithers from the surrounding sand dunes. With part of its scaly skin moving, the serpecdysis lunges forth.

The girl jumps away but the serpecdysis chases after her. Shocker pushing himself to his feet helps Chadd and me up and points at the serpecdysis.

"We see it," Chadd says.

"It's really hard to miss," I add.

Shocker nods his head and shoots out his arms. We then watch as the gloves on his hand start to transform, quickly spreading out and covering his arms in shining metal.

Chadd also shoots out his own arms. When he does, wires from his belt shoot out. Meanwhile, I reach behind me and put out my Boomstick.

With our weapons ready, Chadd and I charge but Shocker stops once more.

"Now what," I ask, "Come on. A giant serpecdysis is trying to eat a fellow student. Why are you stopping us?"

Shocker answers by pointing at himself and then at the serpecdysis. He then points at us and then at the game pieces.

"Ohh," I say with some nods of my head. "I get it. You fight. We get game pieces."

Shocker nods his head before chasing after the girl and the serpecdysis.

"Come on," Chadd says, "We'll help after getting the pieces."

He runs toward the pieces with me following closely behind.

"You know something," I say as I run after Chadd. "Shocker is bad at giving instruction."

"Why? Because he doesn't talk?"

"No. It's because while the two of us are going to receive a game piece, he alone is going to face a giant serpecdysis."

Shocker:

Despite the girl's amazing speed, the serpecdysis is still staying right behind her. It hits the girl with its tongue, knocking the girl to the ground. With one final lunge, it's about to eat the girl but before it can, I jump in front of it and slam my electrified metal fists onto its head.

It screams as electric currents travel from me through my metal arms and onto it. The serpecdysis pulls back its smoking head and shakes it. While the creature pulls back, I turn around and help the girl up to her feet.

I show her a thumb-up tilting to the left and right.

"What," she asks, "Are you asking if I'm okay?"

I nod my head.

"I'm fine," the girl replies. She dusts herself off and grabs her weapon from the ground. The girl's weapon appears to be a sword but there's no blade. As far as I can tell, there is only a sword handle and a tiny saw on it.

Wanting to know more about the girl's weapon, I point to it. However, the girl doesn't seem to notice me. Instead, she's running toward me.

"Watch out," the girl says, forcing me to turn around.

As I turn around, I see the serpecdysis raise itself from the ground. It opens its mouth wide and starts to split. At first, nothing comes out, but after a few short minutes, a second serpecdysis starts to climb out from the first serpecdysis's mouth. As the second serpecdysis, only slightly smaller but very slimly, falls to the ground, it slithers along the ground before lunging at the girl.

Wanting to help her, I stop when I hear hissing. I look at the first serpecdysis, now looking like a ghost. With pale, see-through skin and two large glowing eyes, it pulls back before lunging.

12: Chapter 12: Flying Over

Hothead:

"This is not a bridge," Alodia says with crossed arms. She lets out a cough as she turns her head. I shake my head and roll my eyes.

"I know this isn't a bridge," I say, "But it's better than nothing."

"It is nothing," Alodia shouts.

As she shouts, she uncrosses her arms and points at the ledge.

"It's not nothing," Jump says. "If you pay attention a little more, you can see this particular ledge is angled upward when compared to the other ledges."

"So?"

"So that means if we do this right, we could use this as a ramp."

"A ramp," Renee repeats before he starts to back up and waves his hand. "Wait, wait, wait, what are you two talking about?"

I sigh as I explain my plan once more.

"We have been walking along this ledge for what feels like years now. I'm not kidding! I can actually feel the grey hair growing and taking over! Anyway, for all we know, there is no bridge. There is no crossing we can take. This may be our one shot to cross over the cliff. I said we take it."

"How exactly do we 'take' it," Alodia asks. "I mean, for your sake, let's just pretend I agree with your ridiculous plan and we do take this, so-called, ramp. We would not make it over the cliff. Instead, we would fall down the cliff."

"I have a plan," I say, "Oh, Ms. Small-Minded."

"A plan," Alodia repeats. "Oh joy. Let's hear it."

I smile as I take a breath.

"My plan is nothing but simple. Simple, I repeat. Simply, you use your gift and summon a shield. A big one. One that can hold all of us."

"Okay," Alodia says. "Then?"

"Then I use my gift to launch us."

I pull out my sword from behind me and encase it in bright, burning flames.

"Any question?"

Of course, Alodia is the one to raise her hand.

"Yes, I have one. Uhh, is that the fastest way you can think of killing all of us?"

I click my tongue and shake my head.

"Hey," I say, "At least I'm trying. Right? What's your brilliant idea? Walk for the next few years? I'm sorry, but I have plans ten years from now."

"In case you've forgotten, genius, walking was your plan. And what a brilliant plan it was."

"Hey, now you listen to me! Okay!"

"No, I will not listen to you! Listening to you is how all of this even started in the first place! Honestly!"

Renee Eamon:

"Hey, hey, hey," Jump says as she tries to interject but I grab her and pull her back.

"Maybe it would be best to let them fight this out," I suggest. "I mean until they get everything off their chests."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. We get in the middle if either of them draws their weapons."

Jump stares at me before turning to her friends and her friend's partner.

"Okay," she says.

While the two argue and Jump keeps an eye on their weapons, I examine the part of the cliff Hothead talked about.

"Hothead is right. This part of the ledge is aimed higher than the other parts, and I did see Alodia use her gift before. Assuming she could summon one big enough to hold us, and Hothead can shoot out enough fire, we might actually be able to do it. We might be able to get to the other side! But no. That's crazy. It's crazy. It's--"

Before I can finish, a large shadow flies over me and I immediately look up.

"Guys," I scream, turning around to see Alodia and Hothead still fighting. "We don't have time for this!"

I run from the ledge to the two. While running, I grab a handful of sand and throw it at them.

"Guys," I scream again. "A vultuzzard!"

"A what," Jump says. I point up and all three heads follow. There, they see a large, winged animal flying through the sky. Its black and white skin makes it almost invisible in the night sky.

"I see it," Alodia shouts. She pulls her hands and calls forth her throwing disc. Meanwhile, Jump loads her crossbows and aims. Even Hothead brings out his sword. I'm the only one that keeps his weapon down.

"What are you doing," Jump yells, "Bring out your sword and shield!"

"There's no point," I say, "That vultuzzard is too far away! Neither your bolts nor Alodia's throwing disc can hit it!"

"So what should we do," Hothead asks. "Wait for it to get close?"

"It won't do that," I say. I turn back to the cliff. "Vultuzzard are smart. It'll fly by and knocks us over the cliff."

"Oh," Hothead says, his sword lowering. "That's bad."

"What do we do," Alodia asks.

"We do exactly as Hothead said," I answer. "Gather up everyone. All of us."

"You can't be serious," Alodia says. I ignore Alodia's complaint and pull her in. The four of us squeeze together, I look at Alodia.

"Do it," I say. "Summon a shield to protect us."

Alodia opens her mouth, most likely to say something but before she can talk, I talk.

"We don't have time for a discussion," I say, "Just trust me and do it! Now!"

Alodia must sense the tone in my voice. She nods and claps her hands together. A shield appears around the four of us.

"My turn," Hothead says. He reaches for his sword but I stop him.

"No," I say, reaching and grabbing his hand.

"No? Why?"

"Because if you do, then the shield will break."

"Then what's the point of this?"

"The point is this."

I watch as the vultuzzard dives down. It shoots past us at incredible speed. Just as I thought, the wind from the vultuzzard flying by knocks us down. We all scream as we roll onto the ramp and into the air.

"I hate this," Alodia cries as we all fly through the air. "I hate this! I hate all of you! Especially you, Hothead"

"I feel the same," Hothead says.

I look at the other side as it gets closer and closer. Only, it's not close enough.

"We're falling too early," I shout.

"What, "the three scream.

A risky idea races through my head and I look at Alodia's hands.

"Hope this works," I say before grabbing and pulling Alodia's hands apart.

"Wait, no! What are you doing?"

"Hothead! Your sword! Jump! Grab Alodia and jump!"

Using his sword, Hothead shoots himself toward the cliff. Meanwhile, grabbing Alodia, Jump uses her gift and leaps off Alodia's disappearing shield. As for me, I jump with all my might. Flipping my sword around, I stab the ledge and hang on by the handle.

Despite not seeing them, I can still hear Hothead, Jump, and even Alodia as they all hit the ground. The sound of screaming and sand being thrown around is hard to ignore.

"Renee," Jump shouts as she appears over me. "Renee. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I say, struggling to climb up. Finding a place to put my foot down, I pull myself up and over the ledge.

"I can't believe you did that," Jump says after I climb up and fall against the sand. "I can't believe that works."

"Same here," Alodia pants.

Renee, you're-you're a freaking genius."

Jump then hits me in the chest.

"Ouch. Hey!"

"Uhhh," Hothead says as he pushes himself up. "Hate to ruin your moment, Renee, but our other problem isn't solved yet. The vultuzzard is coming back."

"Oh shoot," I say. I take in one last breath before pushing myself over and up. "Run. Run!"

The four of us immediately run. We run and run until finally, without realizing it, we come to some ruined temple. Only this time, the temple isn't underground. It looks like it builds into a mountain.

"Inside," I say, "Everyone inside now!"

All of us try to run inside but the vultuzzard stops us. It lands right in front and blocks the entrance to the temple.